@Sportshorn
Milos Raonic hasn’t lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since 2011. The streak continued on Monday as the fifth seeded Canadian had no trouble defeating Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour and a half.
In the first match of the day on Court 2, Raonic used his strong serve along with consistent play from the baseline plus a few trips to the net to overpower Darcis who despite a career high ranking of No. 38, didn’t have an answer for Raonic’s well rounded game.
The 26 year old along with his trademark mouth guard needed just 28 minutes to win the first set, breaking in the fourth game and dropping just three points on serve.
It was more of the same in the second set. Darcis made three errors to give his opponent a break in the seventh game and then Raonic used one of his 15 aces in the match to close out the set.
Raonic then broke again in the opening game on the third set and got off to a 4-0 lead deflating any faint hope of a Darcis comeback against the 2016 Wimbledon finalist.
“It’s good to start off well, but he’s sort of the guy that gives me some kind of looks,” said Raonic.” I can always get my racquet on his serve. I took care of my serve. And I think it was just in general a good matchup for me, and I’m happy with how well I played.”
Overall, it was a dominate effort from Raonic. 44 winners, just 16 errors and he dropped just five points on his first serve in the match. He also won 11 of his 18 points at the net.
“Every single match I step out on court, I know I will be able to have the opportunity to create chances to win. Will I do that? Will I get to that stage, and will I make the most of them? That’s another thing. But I believe a lot in my tennis. ”
Raonic, who lost in the fourth round at last years French Open to Albert Ramos-Vinolas, will face Rogerio Dutra Silva in the next round. The Brazilian saved a match point and outlasted Mikhail Youzhny in a five set affair in his opener.
“I haven’t seen Dutra Silva play too much,” admitted Raonic. “ I’ve got to take care of my serve. I’ve got to stay aggressive on the return, and I’ve got to do less running than the other guy. And if I can get on those terms, I should be able to find a way. ”
